OREGON — Led by the play of four sophomores, the Rockford Lutheran girls volleyball team took down fellow Big Northern West foe Byron with a 25-21, 25-15 semifinal win Tuesday at the Class 2A Oregon Regional.

"We're really a young team, but we have a lot of talent," Zanello said.

In fact, the Crusaders have one freshman, six sophomores, five juniors and one senior on the roster.

Lutheran coach Kyle Milborn said the team started slow but has won 14 of the last 16 matches. The Crusaders finished the regular season on a 5-1 run to take fourth in the conference with an 8-5 record.

"We knew with being a young team, we would have some growing to do," he said.

The Crusaders looked strong against Byron, but had to weather several surges. The Tigers roared back late in the first game with three straight points before Woollacott's kill ended it.

In the second game, the Tigers (17-19), who finished fifth in the BNW, tied the score at 6-6 and 8-8 before the Crusaders went on a tear to lead 17-10 en route to the win.

"We tend to make some unforced errors and so the momentum changed for us," Byron coach Aimee Dach said. "It can be hard to get it back against a team with a lot of hitters."

Along with Woollacott and Zanello, sophomores Katie Dolan had eight assists and Hailey Reese had 13 digs. Junior Dakotah Hazlewood led the Crusaders with 11 assists.

Byron's Drew Bernhard had eight kills.

In the earlier game, Oregon upended Rockford Christian 25-13, 25-8. The host Hawks fell behind in the first set 6-1 before taking the win.

"I never felt we were so good that we would blow anyone out of the water," Oregon coach Faith Watson said. "In that first game, Rockford Christian held with us and we had to play our game. In the second game, I felt we pulled it together."

The Hawks (27-9-1) were led by Shannon Cullen and Emily Wright, who each had four kills. Sommer Rhea added three kills, 10 digs and three aces, while Delaney Mahoney had 18 assists and one solo block.

Mandy Uhrig had eight assists, while Hannah Klint had two assists and two blocks for Rockford Christian (12-23-1). Hunter Stromquist had five attacks and one kill.